Secret Among the Clouds
Introductions.....? Kei sat on top of a balcony, reading a small and somewhat torn up book entitled, Leviathan which was authored by a long deceased author. If Kei remembered correctly, it was by a man named Hobbes. The day sun glared down upon Kei, causing him shield his eyes. He inhaled deeply, and looked at the serene landscape before him. Entering a senkaimon gate, Jikan stepped through with a scowl plastered across his face. "Hm...its been awhile. This place still has the same distasteful air about it." Walking to the edge of a hill, Jikan surveyed the area while taking in the different aspects of the environment. "At least, it has this to make up for it. But in any case, I should be careful. I don't really feel like causing any unneeded problems. At least not this early." A large burst of spirit energy had entered the are, causing Kei to tuck his book away and stand up. He blocked the sunshine away from his eyes and observed the vast land, eventually catching sight of a far away figure. "Hmmm. Wonder who could that be." Skidding down the side of the hill, Jikan stopped shy of another cliff. "Hm. I wonder where everyone is? Things are a bit too quite. Then again, there's probably some festival going on that I'm not aware of." Taking the chance to do so, Jikan lit a cigarette as he looked out over the horizon. The figure stopped in their movements entirely, quite close to another cliff. "What on earth is that person doing?" Kei asked himself before disappearing to get a closer look. He appeared besides the figure in a heartbeat, his arms crossed. "You know. Smoking is dangerous for your health," Kei murmured. Turning to look at the stranger, Jikan arched an eyebrow. "Hm? That's funny. I know people who have lived alot longer from doing this" Kei looked at the slim figure, who appeared to be a man and laughed. "I suppose you're right. Are you only doing it to look cool?" "To look cool? It looks like someone didn't get the hint. I was referring to minding my own business." Jikan scoffed as he turned away. "A bit rude aren't we? You could've just said to leave me alone." Kei commented. Turning to look over his shoulder, Jikan sneered, "Well then, leave me alone. Heh." "Now then. You're just doing it to spite me." Kei mocked. "You're not supposed to be here anyways yet you are. Why is that? Or are you just going to ignore me?" Shocked by the man, Jikan turned to face stranger. "How is it that you know that I'm not supposed to be here?" "You are Jikan. We all know you aren't supposed to be in this place. I'm just here to investigate you. Nothing more." Kei replied with a knowing tone. Spitting the cigarette out of his mouth, Jikan's face grew a look of disgust, "I take it you're a captain then? If that's the case, then I will be taking my leave of you." "Me a Captain? I don't see myself as one; I'm new. And why are you leaving? I didn't do anything to you." Kei said in a hurt tone. "A Captain is still a Captain, and I don't want to be forced to crush you where you stand right now. So if you won't get out of the way, then I will force you out. I'm not getting captured here, not today at least!" "What makes you think I can be crushed? I'm not a worthless bug that you think I am." He mocked as he raised his hands to the sky. "If you don't want me here, then force me out. I have no intention of leaving Jikan." "Very well. I suppose that I will have to show you just how serious I am." Jikan smirked as he drew his blade poiniting it at Kei "Ohhh. I'm terrified. Show me how much you're serious Jikan." Kei said as he broke out into a large grin. Charging foward, Jikan prepared a slash before he shunpo'd behind Kei with his blade to his back. "Hmph." But all Jikan's Blade touched was an empty space as the after image of Kei soon disappeared with Kei appearing behind him. "Hmph right back at you." Jumping up, Jikan used Kei's head to flip over him landing back aways before pointing his sword and smirking. "I can do this all day. Or would you like to get serious?" "Of course." Kei replied with a grin as he turned around to face him. He stretched his hand out and spirit particles started to gather in his palm, eventually forming a sheathed Zanpakutō. Whistling in sarcastic amazement, Jikan then spat on the ground. "So...anytime your done with the flashy display. Quit wasting my time pops." "Very funny. I'm not that old you know." He commented. "Oh. My mist---no who am I kidding. I honestly couldn't care less about your personal information." Jikan scoffed "I beg to differ. Your comments continually make me reveal more about myself." Kei sighed, holding his blade to the side. "Otherwise, you would have shut up by now and we would be fighting." "Hmph." Charging at Kei, Jikan jumped and spun himself into a drill like motion, using shunpo to enhance his speed and velocity. Kei readied his sheathe and jumped upward to meet Jikan head on, another smile forming on his face as he reached him. Colliding with Kei's sheathe, Jikan released the drill motion, and swung his blade horizontally using the speed form the drill to bolster his strength. Catching the blade full force with his sheathe, Kei was slightly pushed back but immediately forced himself back onto Jikan, using his sheathe to push forward and drive him back. "Hmph. Not bad geezer. I thought you would be another pushover, but it seems you have some skill afterall." Jikan sneered "Well, this "geezer" has some tricks up his sleeves." Kei mocked, bringing his Zanpakutō out of his sheathe. Smirking, Jikan charged at Kei. "Its about time you begin to take me seriously." Shunpo'ing behind the man, Jikan brings his shinai down in an attempt to strike the man's left shoulder Kei's right hand appeared to intercept his shinai, grasping it with a surprising amount of force and an unrelenting gift. "It's also time for you to take me seriously as well." Kei commented, not looking at Jikan. He immediately let go of the shinai and turned around, firmly holding his Zanpakuto as he made a slight dash to the man, making a slashing attempt at his chest. Taking the blow to his body, Jikan held his body as his legs began to buckle. "Ha! This is battle! I love it! Come on Captain. Show me more." Lathering his shinai in blood, Jikan then slung the remainder onto the ground around him. "I hope you're prepared for this area to become highly...catastrophic." Kei smiled at Jikan, possibly aware of his statement. "I will show you more Jikan. As a Captain, I will happily oblige." He tightened his grip over his Zanpakutō and readied himself, tensing the calves of his legs and taking in deep breathes. "Show me this...catastrophic area you speak of." "Oh? If you're certain you can handle it, then lets go. Choke, Kumiho!" The wooden shinai began burning away before revealing a solid black uchigatana. "Well then, I hope you're ready." Charging toward Kei, Jikan smiled. "Hikutsuna: Mure!" As he spoke these words, a large swarm of locust seemingly appeared from nowhere before attacking Kei. Kei scrambled backward, unable to ward off the oncoming large swarm of locust. As they attacked him, his expression quickly turned into an exasperated feature of pain, his eyes closed and his jaws were clenched. He appeared, as if he couldn't bear the pain anymore. "Gwarh!" He managed to sputter, before falling to the ground with a loud plop. But right before Jikan's eyes, Kei landed with a loud pop, exploding into a blast of smoke. "Yume No Piasu!" cried out a distant voice as a large wave of energy sped through the air, its target being Jikan and his swarm of insects. And right before they hit, the energy split into multiple arcs, as if it were meant to confuse the enemy or increase his damage substantially. Caught off guard, Jikan pulled the swarm of insects to guard himself from the ensuing explosion and minamize the damage, but to no avail as the blast moved faster than the insects and struck both targets head on sending Jikan flying down to the ground. "So...this is the power of a Captain huh? I like it." He smiled as he wiped the blood away from his mouth. "What's next?" "This is what's next." Kei murmured as he appeared before Jikan, his fist poised for a strike. In his other hand, he clenched his Zanpakuto but it now took on a different form, blood red accented with a tear drop pommel. He continued his blow and hit Jikan in the stomach and immediately followed with a kick. "Surprised?" He said under his breath. "Hibi!" Jikan murmured as his blade pierced the ground around them, throwing them both off-balance and allowing Jikan himself to move away while holding his side where the Captain's hit connected. "Tch." Drawing a star-shape in the air, Jikan called out. "Urufu!" Sending a volley of flames in Kei's direction and even causing a mini fire tornado to form around the Captain as he readied another technique